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FORE! … ARRANGING COVERAGE AND
ROOTING FOR A CLAIM
Golf contests, other promotions produce goodwill, boost
charity coffers
By Edward O’Hare
Click on image for enlargement
A hole in one! Shooting one has always been every golfer’s
dream. And now there’s an added incentive—the chance to
shoot for prizes as high as $1 million in hole-in-one contests that
have become exciting highlights of hundreds of charitable
tournaments around the country. And independent insurance
agents are helping to create these contests by arranging for the
insured prizes that boost both participation and fundraising.
Hole In One International/Odds On Promotions of Reno,
Nevada, makes it possible through its prize indemnification
business. “Our experience with golf runs the gamut from
competing successfully at the amateur and professional levels
to developing the nation’s most successful golf tournament
promotions company,” says Mark Gilmartin, president, who
played golf at the University of Nevada and competed nationally
in many USGA (United States Golf Association) tournaments.
Kirk Triplett, who currently plays on the PGA Tour, is also a
founding shareholder.
“We’ve taken our extensive knowledge of and affection for the
game, combined it with business know-how and A-rated
underwriting, to offer the best rates in the business and service
that’s second to none,” says Gilmartin. The company’s offerings
are underwritten by Praetorian Insurance Company, a
subsidiary of Praetorian Financial Group and a member of the
QBE Insurance Group.
Hole In One International was founded in 1991. Odds On
Promotions was added to respond to the explosion in new
marketing strategies using games, contests and promotions to
increase sales, popularize brands and build traffic for
businesses, sporting events, shows and conventions, media and
Web sites. The contests include basketball shooting from half
Mark Gilmartin is President of Hole In One
International, based in Reno, Nevada.
Promotions was added to respond to the explosion in new
marketing strategies using games, contests and promotions to
increase sales, popularize brands and build traffic for
businesses, sporting events, shows and conventions, media and
Web sites. The contests include basketball shooting from half
court, rolling dice to spell a brand name, predicting the Dow
Jones Average and playing Internet Lotto, among others. One
popular marketing strategy involves the use of direct mail for
maximum response.
Together, Hole In One International and Odds On Promotions
insure prizes for more than 17,000 promotions a year— giving
the company a big chunk of this $125 million a year business.
To date, it has paid out more than $24 million in prize money.
And its list of marquee clients includes Fortune 500 companies
such as American Express and Texaco, the Chicago Bulls and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Daimler Chrysler and Mercedes Benz,
and thousands of marketing and promotion coordinators in
every walk of life.
Unlike raffles and sweepstakes, the common thread in prize
indemnification is that there must be risk and there is no
guaranteed prize winner— two factors that enable a company to
offer the $1 million hole-in-one prize for under $200 in premium,
not to mention the 13,000 to 1 odds against making the shot.
Still, the contest is the top choice of insurance agents and their
sponsoring clients, many of whom also offer spanking new cars
and other valuable prizes. Along with the low premiums, agents
praise Hole In One International for ease of binding coverage
and quick payment for prizes won, along with providing free
sponsor signs, tee markers and instructional booklets.
Raves from agents
Curtis C. Knight of CC Knight Insurance Agency in Santa
Clarita, California, calls Hole In One International “the best in the
business,” adding that they “give you a lot for what they charge.”
And once the sponsor pays the premium, he says, everyone can
root for someone to win the big prize. In a tournament that
raised $250,000 for a local hospital, Knight and the sponsor
added a closing contest from the Odds On Promotions side that
was a real crowd pleaser. As more than 500 people watched at
the outdoor dinner, a helicopter dropped numbered golf balls
bought by participants for $5 each onto a green at the driving
Stacey Naveran, pictured above, and Jonna
Stewart, below, work on a few of the creative
promotions that Hole In One International
arranges for clients to popularize brands and
build traffic for businesses, sporting events,
shows and conventions, media and Web
sites.
range—with a prize of $50,000 for a shot in the hole and $5,000
for closest to the hole. The winning number was contained in a
hand-held computer provided by the company. For agents
considering a similar contest, Knight has one caveat: Be sure
you have free access to the copter and the pilot.
Randy Maddox of Morrison Insurance Agency in Metairie,
Louisiana, provides insured prizes for a major auto dealer who
sponsors about 40 hole-in-one contests a year. And he works
closely with Louisiana State University in other contests. Playing
to a 10 handicap, Maddox has had two holes in one but never at
a target hole. And he just missed a $10,000 prize when his 50foot putt went in and out of the cup.
Mark brainstorms promotional ideas with
Kevin Hall, Vice President, and Zachary M.
Woodhead, Promotion Coordinator.
For Tom Holter of TRICOR Insurance and Financial Services in
Greater Beloit, Wisconsin, just thinking about the upcoming 25
golfing events and the many charitable organizations that will
benefit from them warms him up against the winter freeze. In
some tournaments, Holter’s client, a car dealer, will often
sponsor three hole-in-one contests and offer prizes of either
cars or free two-year leases on them.
John Supinski of Supinski Bonding & Insurance, Rockville,
Maryland, publishes a newsletter to help publicize the 50 to 75
hole-in one-contests for which he arranges prizes. Along with
golf, Supinski has been involved in promotions involving
basketball shots from half court and a field goal try at a
Baltimore Ravens football game.
Tony West of Jacobs Vanaman Insurance Agency, Inc., in
Coshocton, Ohio, like the other agents, has yet to see a hole in
one made on the target hole. “I’d love to see someone do it and
win a new car; it would be great publicity for the sponsor,” he
says.
Because premiums for the prizes are low, the financial return for
agents is modest. The big payback, they say, comes from
providing an additional service to their existing clients and the
satisfaction of being involved in contests that raise thousands of
dollars in charitable funds. They also say that having a
reputation for providing this insurance can lead to referrals for
other business.
Among the organizations that benefit from their efforts are local
A recent promotion at the University of
Nevada, a Hole In One production.
hospitals, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers and Big Sisters,
YWCA, United Cerebral Palsy, Youth Service Bureau, Kiwanis
and Lions Clubs, as well as individuals in dire need of financial
help.
Getting started
For agents looking to break into prize indemnification, Mark
Gilmartin says they might start with a Combination Putting
contest for a new car for a premium as low as $150. Make a 10footer and win a sleeve of balls (provided by the sponsor), make
a 30-footer and win a golf shirt (once again provided by the
sponsor), make a 50-foot or longer putt and win the new car
provided by Hole In One International.
To generate $50,000 or more for charities, schools, sports
teams and others, Gilmartin suggests organizing a shootout—
setting up a 125-yard hole at a local, high-traffic driving range
with a 3- to 5-foot circle around it. Over a three- to five-day
period, charge $1 to $2 per shot to allow golfers to qualify for the
finals by knocking the ball into the circle. Bring back all of the
qualifiers at the conclusion of the event to take their shot from
150- plus yards to “join the ranks of the rich and famous” by
getting the hole in one.
Because many sponsors are car dealers, Gilmartin says agents
can interest them in a direct mail contest that will draw scores of
people to their showrooms. The dealer can design a mailer with
a real or make-believe key enclosed, inviting recipients to the
showroom for a chance to win a car. Once a recipient is there,
the key can either start the car or open a vault containing the
keys to the car. The prize can be either a new car or a year’s
monthly payments on a new car.
When it comes to prize indemnification, Gilmartin says, anyone
is a potential client. He recalls an exciting promotion in which a
furniture store in Chicago offered to rebate the price of furniture
bought over Labor Day weekend if the Chicago Bears shut out
Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers in the opening game of
the professional football season last September. In his entire
career— in the pros, college, high school and Pop Warner—
Favre had never been shut out. Guess what? The Bears beat
the Packers 26 to 0, snapping not only Favre’s streak but also
the 233-game scoring streak of the Packers. Scores of happy
shoppers got their money back. And Odds On Promotions
happily paid the tab. *
For more information:
Web sites:
www.holeinoneinternational.com
www.oddsonpromotions.com
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